This invention relates generally to the sports of baseball and softball, and more particularly to devices suitable for assisting in the teaching of a proper batting swing.
Batting tees are well known in the art and are used for teaching players of baseball and softball how to improve their swing with a bat. Batting tees typically have a support member intended to be positioned upon the ground. Often the support member has had the appearance of a home plate so as to aid in assisting the proper positioning of the batter. A vertical member in the nature of a pipe or post typically extends upward from the supporting base and terminates in a flexible piece of material such as rubber upon which a baseball or softball may be positioned. The height of the upper end of the vertical support is typically adjustable to simulate high and low pitches as well as to adapt the batting tee for use by players of different size.
It has been recognized that certain advantages are enjoyed by permitting the vertical ball support to move with respect to the base support to different locations so as to simulate inside and outside pitches. It has additionally been recognized that it is desirable in some circumstances that the ball be hit in front of the plate rather than over the plate and hence means have been provided for positioning the vertical ball support at various locations in front of the home plate portion of the supporting base.
In the teaching of a proper batting swing, it is often difficult to persuade batters of the desirability of timing their swing so that contact between the bat and ball is achieved at a different forward or rearward position with respect to the home plate depending upon whether the pitch is inside or outside. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide the batting tee which will assist in the teaching of a proper batting swing which will reinforce the desirability of coordinating the contact position between the bat and ball depending upon whether the pitch is inside or outside. It is further an object of the present invention to provide a batting tee which reinforces the teaching for both right and left-handed batters based on a common coordination scheme.